(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Tuesday said it was “best” for Israel to stay out of the current conflict between the US and Iran, as the US continues bombing the Islamic Republic, and Iranian missiles and drones continue to target bases in Arab states across the region but have so far spared Israel.
“The State of Israel has no interest in joining the contained confrontation between Iran and the United States — the current situation is the best one for us,” Smotrich said at a conference marking the 2005 withdrawal of settlements from Gaza, where he and other Israeli officials push for the resettlement of the Palestinian territory.
Smotrich made the comments after four US soldiers were killed in the war, including three in an Iranian attack on a base in Jordan and one who died during a controlled detonation of an unexploded Iranian drone, according to the US military.
Israel has stayed out of the war since the US renewed the bombing campaign despite the fact that, according to the official State Department rationale, the US launched the conflict “at the request” of Israel. Smotrich said that Israel still sought regime change in Iran, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told President Donald Trump would happen if he launched the war.
“[We] must remember that the ultimate goal of Israel, and not necessarily the United States, is to undermine and weaken the regime in Iran – to the point of overthrowing it,” Smotrich said, according to Middle East Eye, adding that destroying Iran’s economy is the best path toward that goal.
“Currently, inflation in Iran is at 85 percent, food inflation of over 134 percent in a total of four months, and the Iranian rial is trading at an exchange rate of 1.9 million to the dollar – and it’s going up,” he said.
Smotrich reaffirmed that the “current situation is good for us, and there’s no point in pushing ourselves inward.”
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that while Israel hasn’t been directly striking Iran, it has been supporting the war by providing the US with intelligence and in other ways. The report said that Israel’s less visible role was “a blessing for Israelis” since it “reduces the risk of casualties and allows daily life to continue largely as normal, without midnight sirens, trips to bomb shelters or major disruptions.”
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
